Image credit: Kristian D. (I'd have made my own, but this is a lovely photo.)I received one of those e-mails many of us get from congresspeople we've supported in the past. This e-mail was from Senator Chris Dodd's campaign today concerning health care. They seemed to be quite pleased with the results, in contrast to my feelings on the matter. Since this came to my Cujo359 e-mail, I thought I'd pass along my reply:
Sorry to sound ungrateful, but this is a sorry excuse for public health care reform. It consists of making Americans pay for their own health insurance, assuming they don't get it from their employers, which I think will continue to become increasingly unlikely.
It will not include a real public option - states can deny it to their populations, and it won't be offered to anyone who already has insurance and wants a better or more reliable choice. It will not compensate medical service providers at Medicare rates, meaning it will have little or no effect on the price of medical services and drugs, nor on the cost of private insurance.
In short, it's a thing resembling a public option, but without the substance that makes it useful for keeping health insurance companies honest and medical costs under control.
After witnessing the fiascoes that have occurred after Congress and the last four Presidents refused to properly regulate the banks and securities markets, and after seeing how much of an influence insurance has had over the legislation in this congress, I have absolutely no faith that the government will regulate private health insurance well enough to prevent another fiasco.
The Congress could have easily passed a plan that offered Medicare to whoever wanted it. At least, it could have done it easily if only broad public support were necessary. It refused to do this simple and ultimately far more effective thing, opting for a Rube Goldberg approach instead.
We gave you guys 60 votes and this is the best you can do? It's not good enough.
regards,
Cujo359
I don't know what they're expecting, but if they think this is good work they need to seriously think about what they're trying to accomplish.
2 comments:
Dem leadership needs to figure out how to twist arms and bang heads. This ability of a handful of Dems to hold everything hostage is utterly ridiculous. Honestly, I'm shocked they got this far, considering how utterly idiotic the Senate's become.
Ah, well. Start small and build, I suppose. If we're lucky, and we manage to persuade voters to vote in some people with common sense and a modicum of compassion, that is.
This doesn't feel like starting small. It feels like going backwards. The insurance lobby will have more money thanks to this bill, and thus more power to dissuade Congress from doing anything to fix the mess they're creating.
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